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Rikon 10" joiner/planer

Am a frequent lurker and infrequent poster. Was wondering if anyone had any experience with Rikon power tools.

I need both a jointer and planer. Space and $'s are both considerations. While surfing the net for mainly 6" joiners and portable planers ran across this machine, www.right-tool.com/rikrp10plan.html, looks very similar to one of the Inca machines that Garrett Wade used to sell.

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Hey Mark. Don't recall seeing you around before, so in case I missed it, "welcome aboard"! Hope to catch you around here more often.

Regarding the jointer/planer; Right up front, I do NOT have one of these, nor have I ever even laid eyes on one. BUT, here's my take on it, just looking at it logically: First, part of the description, which really bothers me:

Two things with that: 1) Table size. Very, very short, even for a 6" jointer, much less a 10" unit. 2) 147 lbs. Wow! That's almost in the "portable" arena. My personal experience is with a 6" jointer, which I purchased primarily due to space restrictions at the time. Besides lacking the width, I find the table length to be somewhat constrictive (too short) and, even though the little 6"-er weighs in closer to 200 lbs., when running boards, which are long and heavy, tend to shift the whole unit a bit. In my case, NOT a good thing, as I have the dust collection running "solid" right up to the unit.

So, nothing you may consider significant seeing as to how I don't actually own/run one, but stuff to consider...

Cheers,John K. Miliunas

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If you do find some info on this machine, let me know. I've been eye-balling it for a little while now. I called Right-tool looking for some info, preferably some sort of reference from someone who actually had used it (this question pops up from time to time on the Wreck, or on various woodworking forums, but no one ever seems to have actually seen or touched a live one, at least not stateside), and they bounced me to Rikon, who started to send me to Right-Tool... I should get back to them and see if they came up w/ anything. Hard to imagine that these things must sell, or they wouldn't continue to carry/make them, but I've not been able to find a real user.

FWIW, at least one fellow (either from England, or had spent some time there) mentioned it was very similar to a machine that Dewalt makes for the Euro market:

I'm pretty interested in them; I have a BT3100, so I don't necessarilly subscribe to the mo' weight mo' betta theory. The short beds could be an issue; my question there is this: is it possible to use infeed/outfeed tables/rollers/stands and get satisfactory results? I realize 'satisfactory' covers a lot of territory, and I'm not expecting the same as say, an industrial wide bed jointer, but something that is reasonably flat and straight?

John, I have concerns about the short length of the bed also. However most of the finished lengths in my projects are less than 48" long, so cutting to rough length before jointing would be an option.

Monte my table saw is a BT3100, I'm sure it won't last the decades that a PM 66 will, but is dead on accurate and very versatile. So I'm with you in excluding a machine just for lack of weight. (The prices for used Inca machnines on ebay would indicate that we are not alone.)

I was hoping to find that this joiner/planer machine offered those same benefits in accuracy, compact size and affordability.

Hi Mark
The size bothers me a bit; ~19" infeed table isn't very much. The stand shown in the picture is optional. It looks like the jointer tables are aluminum which accounts for the lite weight but isn't as wear resistant as cast iron. Also, depending on how the tables slide, adjustments for alignment and wear and tear on the gibs could be an issue in the future. If these tables are machined from solid stock such as any of the 5000 - 7000 series aluminum they'll be stable; as in less likely to warp. If they're cast (which is my guess)they'll be more brittle but wear better.

I'm not saying it's a bad machine; I've never seen or heard anything about it before, rather these are just my impressions based on the desctiption and picture

For more or less the same money you can get a Yorkcraft 6" x 46" jointer from Wilke ($299 +S&H) and a 12" portable planer from Grizzly Industrial ($199 +S&H). The planer is small enough to tuck under a bench or in a closet when not in use but the jointer will require floor space. A mobile base (~$65) makes it easy to move around. I've heard good things about both these tools but never used them. Both Wilke and Grizzly have very good reputations.

Please let us know what you decide!

Brian

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